Antibiotics taken by hundreds of

Antibiotics Erythromycin Antibiotics and heart disease

Antibiotics taken by hundreds of thousands of people 'more than double the risk of sudden heart deaths'

Study involving 21 million adults found a common group of drugs used for pneumonia and skin infections may cause the heart to beat very fast
The medicines in question are known as macrolides, such as erythromycin
However the researchers stress the risk of heart problems is still low

By SOPHIE BORLAND HEALTH CORRESPONDENT FOR THE DAILY MAIL

PUBLISHED: 19:01, 9 November 2015

Antibiotics taken by hundreds of thousands of people 'more than double the risk of sudden heart deaths'

Study involving 21 million adults found a common group of drugs used for pneumonia and skin infections may cause the heart to beat very fast

The medicines in question are known as macrolides, such as erythromycin

However the researchers stress the risk of heart problems is still low

Antibiotics taken by hundreds of thousands of people more than double the risk of sudden heart deaths, a major study has found.

Research involving 21 million adults shows that a common group of drugs used for pneumonia and skin infections may cause the heart to beat very fast.

The medicines in question are known as macrolides - a class of antibiotic that includes erythromycin, roxithromycin, azithromycin and clarithromycin.

They are commonly used to treat pneumonia, gastroenteritis, whooping cough, skin infections and sexually transmitted diseases including chlamydia.

They are also given to those allergic to penicillin.

However scientists believe they interfere with the electrical activity of the heart causing it to beat at a rate of more than 100 times a minute.

This is a condition known as tachycardia and it can lead to heart attacks, strokes or sudden death from a cardiac arrest, when the heart stops completely.

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Chinese researchers looked at 33 existing studies from around the world spanning almost 50 years dating back from 1966.

They calculated that patients taking macrolide were two and a half times more likely to develop a fast heartbeat or of sudden death from cardiac arrest.

They also had a 30 per cent higher chance of dying from any heart condition.

Despite the alarming figures, researchers say there is no reason for doctors to stop prescribing the drugs as the overall risk is still small.

Based on these findings, only one in every 30,000 patients on this type of antibiotic would be expected to suffer a fatal heart attack.

Lead author Dr Su-Hua Wu, of the Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou said: ‘The absolute risks of sudden cardiac death and cardiac death are small, so it should likely have limited effect on prescribing practice.

The drugs in question are often used to treat pneumonia, gastroenteritis, whooping cough, skin infections and sexually transmitted diseases including chlamydia

‘However, given that macrolides are one of the most commonly used antibiotic groups and millions of patients are prescribed these drugs annually, the total number of sudden cardiac deaths or ventricular tachyarrhythmias (tachycardia) and cardiac deaths may not be negligible.’

He also said more research was needed to establish the exact risk posed by the different types of antibiotics.

‘The heart safety of each macrolide needs to be better understood to help guide clinical treatment decisions.’ He added.

Doctors are already being strongly urged to avoid prescribing patients any type of antibiotic where possible because bacteria are becoming resistant to them.

Experts are extremely worried about this phenomenon and fear it will lead to patients dying from minor cuts or routine operations, having contracted an untreatable infection.

Increasingly doctors are finding that when they try and treat patients with a course of antibiotics they fail to clear up the infection, because the bacteria is immune.

Researchers said it would be a ‘major setback’ for doctors to stop using macrolides – just because they increased the risk of fatal heart attacks – as there are now fewer effective antibiotics

Dr Sami Viskin, of the Sackler School of Medicine at Tel Aviv University in Tel Aviv, Israel, said: ‘Today, when antimicrobial resistance represents a major threat to global health and new treatment options are frighteningly few, losing an entire class of antibiotics would represent a major setback in the fight against infections.

‘Furthermore, it takes years to fully understand the consequences of a drug’s disappearance.’

Types of macrolides include erythromycin, azithromycin and clarithromycin and they work by preventing bacteria from making protein, so they eventually die out.

NHS video explains the warning signs of a heart attack

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3310663/Antibiotics-taken-hundreds-thousands-people-double-risk-sudden-heart-deaths.html#ixzz4MRS2prwQ